Various Artists: "Diana Princess Of Wales Tribute" (Columbia)

They couldn't all come to the funeral, but nearly every major pop artist in the universe is represented on this double CD tribute to the late Diana, Princess Of Wales. Pick any big name out of the hat - Annie Lennox, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Bruce Springsteen, U2 - they're all here. There are 36 songs on this parade of musical mourning, some new, some re-recorded, but most as familiar as a pair of slippers. The album may have been conceived as a memorial to Princess Diana, but in reality it's little more than an all-star late-night easy-listening session, and while the proceeds will go to help some of the more vulnerable people in society, the music may only help find a cure for insomnia. Most of the songs on this CD were already hits when Diana was still alive, so contributions by the likes of Celine Dion, Simply Red, R.E.M. and Queen are sort of second-hand tributes which have been transferred to the Princess by popular music demand. At least Aretha Franklin addressed Diana directly on the newly-recorded I'll Fly Away, but though the voice is still strong as ever, the soul is a little diluted. Other new recordings include Every Nation by the Red Hot R&B Allstars, featuring Lauryn from The Fugees, and a song by the London-based Chicken Shed Theatre Company, which integrates able-bodied and non-able bodied performers, and which was one of Diana's favourite charities. A good cause, to be sure, but not very charitable to musical taste. And of course the ubiquitous Spice Girls are there too, recycling their Children In Need tune, Mama, proving that pop music and charity are leading us all on a merry old dance. I'll get me hanky.